Bloomberg is reporting that Mukesh Ambani is once again Asia's richest person after striking a deal with Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Inc.
With his stock surging, Ambani's fortune rose about USD 4.7 billion to USD 49.2 billion on Wednesday, reports Bloomberg after Reliance Industries Ltd. gained 10%.
This jump has pushed the Indian billionaire ahead of China’s Jack Ma of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., by about USD 3.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is updated after the close of each trading day in the US.
In a massive deal, Facebook Inc. will be investing USD 5.7 billion in Ambani’s Jio Platform – this is the social networking leader’s biggest deal since the 2014 purchase of WhatsApp.
"At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and I share for the all-around digital transformation of India," Ambani said in a video posted on Jio's Facebook page. "WhatsApp in particular, has entered our people's daily vocabulary in all the 23 official languages of India."
Facebook will buy about 10% of Jio Platforms, which brings together digital apps and a wireless platform under one umbrella, said a Reliance statement on Wednesday.